Leagues Step Up to the Plate for Flint Park Renovations

-- Neighbors Skirmish Over Possibility of Blocked Views

by Judy Silberstein

(December 15, 2005) At their Monday, December 12 public meeting, Larchmont's Village Board had one easy task: hearing that the sports leagues would be helping raise funds to renovate the back of Flint Park. A more difficult job was deciding what to do about bushes mistakenly planted on Village property: one neighbor wants permission for them to stay, the other objects.

• Park Pledges
• Bushes Privacy vs Views

Flint Park Expansion Project Gets Pledges of Support

The long-anticipated Flint Park renovation project received both financial and moral support on Monday with news that the Larchmont/Mamaroneck Little League and the Larchmont Junior Soccer League have pledged $150,000 towards the effort. The pledge is jumpstarting a drive to raise $500,000 in private contributions to supplement what the Village of Larchmont has raised from grants and the sale of bonds.

Mayor Ken Bialo hailed the pledge as “a terrific first step” that will allow Larchmont to come up with “the full price to do an outstanding and once-in-a-generation” job at the back of Flint Park.” A short-handed board (Trustees Liz Feld and Marlene Kolbert were out of town) unanimously approved authorizing the Village treasurer to set up a trust fund, dubbed the “21st Century Fund,” to hold donations, which will be eligible for tax deductions.

The project is on the “cusp of a final plan, a final timetable and a final budget,” said Michael Jacobson, a member of the Little League and also of the small group headed by Phil Johanson that’s been working to kick-start the fund drive. Mr. Johanson was unable to attend the announcement, but in a phone conversation before the meeting told the Gazette that the community will soon be receiving a brochure describing the effort and how to contribute.

PLANS: Mayor Bialo confirmed that plans have been finalized and design documents have been sent to the Army Corps of Engineers, the NY Department of Environmental Conservation and the various granting agencies for their approval. The plans include expansion and renovation of the fields so there is room to play two (up from one) baseball games (a “Babe Ruth” league game plus a Little League game) or two regulation soccer games. The designs also add drainage and irrigation systems to maintain the health of the fields in rain and drought and to allow play to resume more quickly after it rains. Plans for the environmental area open up a 700-foot waterfront that had been off-limits to the public and hidden from sight behind a former leaf-collection site. Boardwalks, a meadow, native plantings and an osprey nest feature in the design. (For more details, see: Designs Jell for Flint Park Ball Fields & Environmental Area)

Final Plan for Flint Park Fields and Water Front: Courtesy of Eberlin & Eberlin

TIMETABLE: While details of the plans are now set, the final timetable and budget are less firm and depend on such uncontrollable factors as construction bids and the weather. The Village hopes to go out for bids by March of 2006, and hopes to start construction in late June at the end of the spring sports season. That would allow for planting of the fields and the environmental area in the fall of 2006. “We’d love for it to be ready in fall of 2007,” said Mayor Bialo, but an additional year may be necessary to insure the grass is sturdy enough to withstand the hard use it will get from the sports leagues.

BUDGET: Estimated costs now exceed earlier projected costs of $1 million. Big ticket items include the drainage, sprinklers, pathways, baseball cages and bleachers, according to the mayor. On the revenue side, the Village has grant applications pending and has already received grants totaling slightly more than $295,000: $120K of “seed money” in 2002 from the Environmental Protection Fund (See: $120,000 Grant for Flint Park), plus $150K from the New York Department of State, and an additional $25K from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation this year. Last summer the board authorized the sale of $1,050,000 in bonds to allow a timely implementation of the project, however Mayor Bialo explained that he expected more than half of that to be repaid eventually through grants and fundraising. (See:Larchmont Prepares for $3.2 Million Makeover: Bonds Will Fund 6 Major Capital Improvements.) Since then, the fundraising goal has been raised to an ambitious $500,000.

MORE SUPPORT: Baseball and soccer teams aren’t the only ones pledging early support for the project. The Flint Park Conservancy has committed to raising $50,000 for developing the environmental area, reported Catherine Kortlandt, head of the organization, in a telephone call following the board meeting. Mr. Jacobson noted that the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Youth Lacrosse league would be making a decision shortly about its participation in the fund drive. Wider participation from groups and individuals is expected once the brochure goes out to the entire community early next year.

Reaching the half-million mark will take effort, but other Larchmont organizations have succeeded with similar projects in the past few years. The Flint Park Playground group raised over $100,000 for new play equipment and landscaping, and the Manor Park Society raised $1 million in less than a year for capital improvements and a permanent endowment.

Bushes: Privacy vs. Views

Also on the agenda at Monday’s board meeting was what appeared to be a simple request by Jennifer Ogden to permit her new shrubs to remain at the side of her home, even though they were mistakenly planted on land owned by the Village. However, because the bushes have the potential to block views of the Sound, the conversation got complicated, mirroring current controversies elsewhere in the Manor over the impacts of construction on neighboring vistas.

Sasha and Gregory Esposito, who are building a new home at 8 Grove next door to Ms. Ogden at 2 Helena Avenue, were at the Monday board meeting to voice objections to the shrubbery. Both sides called for greater consideration of their neighbors. Ms. Ogden raised concerns for her family’s safety and privacy; the Espositos worried about views of the water that are important to property values. The new plantings are evergreen arborvitae that, if not kept trimmed, could screen views of the water year-round for the neighbors and others passing down Grove Avenue.

Earlier this year, the board heard similar objections from neighbors of 1 Helena Avenue, locally known as the Gingerbread House, where a new two-story addition blocks water views from next door. (See photo at left.) Residents near Willow and Kane have been at board meetings in recent months in response to construction at two nearby homes; a blocked view of the sunset was one neighbor’s concern. Because these cases involved development on private land, the Village Board did not have jurisdiction. However, the board did end up voting for changes to the zoning code that, had they been in place earlier, would have provided notice to neighbors early enough for them to ask the Planning Commission to require mitigating alterations to the proposed designs. (See: Stricter Zoning Code Passes)

In the Helena-Grove dispute, the Village Board is the ultimate decision-making body, although board members wanted more time to visit the site and consider the situation before rendering a verdict.

“I would try very, very hard to have people come together,” said Trustee Anne McAndrews who was hoping the neighbors could reach an amicable understanding. Trustee Mike Wiener said he wants to check out the view directly, rather than rely upon a photograph.

“We live cheek by jowl,” commented Mayor Bialo, “everyone has to be as flexible as we can.” But he stressed that the community’s interests should be paramount in whatever decision the board makes.

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